by Lisa Olsen
“Hullo,” he rumbled, brushing the strands away from my forehead.
I smiled up at him, my arms sliding around his waist. “Hi.”
“You shouldn’t be in here like this.” But he didn’t make any move to let me go.
“I know. It’s only Lee and Hanna in the house though, their hearing isn’t as good.”
“It is with you making such a ruckus.”
“I could always say you did something funny to make me laugh.”
“Because I’m known for acting the comedian?” He raised a single brow.
“Then don’t tickle me with your scruff and I won’t be so loud. When’s the last time you shaved anyway?”
“I thought you liked me like this.”
“I do yesterday or tomorrow, today is that super prickly stage,” I said, rubbing my jaw along the side of his.
“I see,” he said seriously. “And how will you explain what I done to make this sound?” In the space of a breath he ducked under the comforter, tugging up the corner of my shirt to nip at the tender skin underneath my ribs. He was probably going for the tease, but the second I arched up under him it became something else. His mouth closed over my flesh, no longer tickling, but kissing and nuzzling his way back up to my neck. This time it didn’t tickle one bit as my head lolled to the side, giving him better access.
“So soft…” he murmured against my skin, pressing intimately against me and my legs parted to accept him. This was dangerous, and I never wanted it to end. Rob’s lips closed over mine and I moaned against his mouth. I couldn’t help it, I wanted to taste him so badly.
“We have to stop,” he whispered, even as his hands skimmed lower.
“I know.” But neither one of us did.
He was the one to break the silence as my hand wrapped around his length, hard and ready for me, and I laid a finger to his lips. “Shh, the only way this works is if we’re absolutely silent. Or do you want me to stop?”
He looked up at me, helpless to the passion clouding his hazel eyes when I held him in my grasp. “Don’t stop,” he breathed. “Don’t ever stop.”
There was a bit of maneuvering and then I slid down onto him, our gazes holding each other as tightly as our bodies, intent on sharing the exquisite joining the only way we could when deprived of our voices. It built between us, a sheen of sweat lending an extra glide to our bodies that made it harder to control when everything inside me screamed to take him hard and fast.
It was torture, it was bliss… it went on and on, lips muffling all but the sound of shaky breaths and the soft press against the mattress. And slow, so slow I thought I might die as every slide of flesh against flesh was drawn out until I practically vibrated to let go and grind against him like I wanted to. Rob felt it too, I could sense it in the coil of his muscles, the way his hands gripped my hips with bruising strength, desperately fighting against his own need to break free and give in.
“Bugger this,” he muttered finally, tearing his mouth from mine. The next thing I knew, Rob flipped me onto my back. Before I could so much as protest the withdrawal, he grabbed me roughly by the hips and hooked my leg up high over his shoulder, plunging into me with a long, hard stroke. After the slow, drawn out beginning, it only took three strokes before I was gasping and straining at the sheets, my face turned into the pillow to keep from crying out as he pounded into me deeper and faster with every piston of his powerful hips.
My body trembled under his, sharp teeth piercing my own lip in an effort to keep quiet. As the scent of my blood filled the air he plunged his fangs into my neck, his hips never slowing as he drank. It was all I could do to clamp my own mouth over his shoulder in time to bite back the cry of ecstasy as I soared higher. There was nothing slow or soft about the release that tore me apart, and in that instant, I couldn’t care less if the entire house heard the sounds of the pleasure that pierced my soul.
Rob shuddered above me as I drank from him in kind and all of a sudden, I believed those stories Jenessa had told of vampire lovers who withered away and died, lost in each other’s embrace. I never wanted to move again. All I wanted was for it to go on and on forget the world even existed.
But eventually sanity prevailed as our bodies slowly returned to Earth. I listened intently, but couldn’t make out the sounds of anything other than the continued card game upstairs, Lee’s deep voice eliciting softer chuckles from Hanna. Maybe they’d heard us and maybe not. At the time I couldn’t bring myself to care very much.
“You make me reckless,” Rob said finally, kissing the top of my cheek as he released my leg. “That was far too dangerous.”
Dangerous, but definitely worth it. “I don’t think they heard anything. We weren’t all that loud, no thanks to you.”
“I didn’t hear you complaining none at the time,” he smirked, full of male pride.
“Where’s that gag when I need it?” I teased.
“That’s something we can try later, but for now, you’d best be off and get cleaned up before the others are about.”
Raucous laughter came from above as Lee entertained my sister. If we could hear them… “Fine, I’ll go,” I sighed, rooting around under the covers until I came up with the rest of my discarded clothes. “You know, we could shower together. Aren’t we in a drought right now? It’s our civic duty to conserve water.” I could see him actually think it over and that made me laugh as I climbed out of bed. “On second thought, you remember what happened the last time we showered together, don’t you?”
“If memory serves, there wasn’t nothing conservative about it.” His eyes positively glowed with warmth.
“Alright, I’ll take my own shower and leave you to yours. Only, be quick about it, won’t you? If Jenessa comes back and finds you in there, she’ll take it as a personal challenge.”
*
Can I just say how proud I was of Rob’s transition to vampire life? Apart from the whole conking out early and rising late, he was handling the lifestyle changes with the greatest of ease.
Okay, so part of me was a little blue that he didn’t seem to need me as much as I’d originally thought. I guess I’d had visions in my head of me guiding him through the rocky shoals of vampiredom, having all manner of excuses to spend time holed up with him, teaching the ins and outs, but it turned out he’d absorbed all of it years ago.
He didn’t seem to mind giving up regular food all that much, as long as he could have his cuppa tea. I still noticed the mood swings, but only because I really knew him well enough to spot them. Most didn’t pick up on the whitening of his knuckles or the gleam in his eye until he got himself back under control.
That was the big thing – the man was made of self control. My fantasy of getting to spend all kinds of alone time together now that I was his Sire fizzled out when he deliberately tried to maneuver us away from any private time after his big lapse in control the other night.
Mostly I tried to give him space when he shied away from too much intimacy. There would be plenty of time for us to exercise intimacy once things settled down – or so I told myself. Maggie’s warning about not putting the important things off for too long echoed in my mind every time our private moments were thwarted.
The only thing that seriously troubled him was the weakness, as he called it, every time the sun even thought about poking higher in the sky. I could tell it really chapped his hide to leave me alone for those scant hours of the day, even with Lee there to protect me. Not that I needed all that much in the way of protecting; mostly I stuck to the house except for when I needed to feed.
I did venture out once for a somber night of drinks down at the Bleeding Hart in Marcus’ memory, though the gathering was so full of friends I hardly felt the threat of Lodinn’s reach. Once I slipped out with Lee to watch Oliver Bassett’s memorial reception, but I chickened out of going in, watching the widow and son from the security of the car. What would I even say to them? Sorry about your loss, I didn’t much know your husband, but I met him at work? As
soon as I saw the grieving pair up close, I knew I had no business going in there to assuage my guilt.
The closer we got to Lodinn’s deadline, the more restless I got and the more my crowded house full of guests wore on my last nerves. In general, Lee made things a lot more bearable, keeping my sister entertained most of the time when her waspish tongue made her less than popular with the rest of the household. Maggie pitched in too, keeping an eye on her when Lee’s duties kept him busy.
Jenessa gave one last ditch effort to sink her teeth into Rob before switching to Lee. The shifter seemed not to mind a harmless flirtation with the pretty blonde, but I don’t think it went much beyond that. Or if it did, they were more discreet than Rob and I had been.
A welcome distraction came when I got a call from Detective Mathis. “I’ve got a new lead on those murders you’re interested in. Any chance you have time for a meet?”
“Oh, that’s great. Or… wait, does that mean there are more dead bodies?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Not the kind of break I’d been hoping for. “I don’t suppose you can come over here?” It was still early out and I didn’t want to go out without Rob again, even if I took Lee with me.
“House calls aren’t really my thing…”
“Right, I know. Listen, maybe you could meet with Mason, the guy from the earpiece, remember him?”
There was only the briefest of pauses before he replied. “That works for me, tell him to give me a call.”
“I will, I have your number, thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Maybe this is the break we need.” I crossed my fingers at Maggie, who hovered in the doorway. Not that I knew if Mason was free, we hadn’t talked much since my parents’ visit the other night, but he picked up on the first ring. “Hey, Mason, it’s me. Did I catch you at a good time?”
“I’m just having a beer at the Hart while Zoe tries to convince Cage that she’s got the chops to arm wrestle him. You interested in that action?”
“Ah… sure, I’ll take five on Zoe, she’s the one with something to prove.”
“You got it. Anything else I can do for you? It’s been pretty quiet out here, people have been laying low, like they’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Wasn’t that a charming thought? “Actually yes, I did have another reason for calling. Do you think you could meet up with Detective Mathis? He might have a lead on some more bodies that turned up that meet our M.O.”
“Sure, I can do that, no sweat.”
“Great, here, take down his number.”
“I’ve got it. I was in the van, remember? I have it all recorded.”
“Oh. I’ll leave you to it then.” A pounding sounded from the front door, loud enough to rattle the pictures on the walls of my office. “What in the world? Hold on a sec…” I probably could’ve let him go – Lee was already up and on his feet in the foyer, pulling his shaggy hair back with an elastic hair tie – but I wanted the security of someone I trusted out there in case bad stuff was about to go down. Sure enough, trouble with a capital T waited on the front porch.
“Holy buckets…” I gasped as I stood back from the sidelight window.
“What’s wrong, sis?” Mason prompted, his easygoing manner vanishing at the tone in my voice.
“Remember what you said about that other shoe?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“It just dropped. Jakob is here. I gotta go.”
Chapter Sixteen
Jakob pounded on the door again, frantic as he spotted me through the beveled glass, and I held Lee back from opening the door. “Go down and wake up Rob. Do what you have to do.”
“I ain’t about to leave your side, darlin’, that ain’t how it works. I don’t care whose side he’s on,” he protested and Maggie stepped in.
“I’ll go do it.”
“Thanks, Maggie.” I gave her a brief smile before pulling the door open, standing well inside the safety of the house’s protection spell. “Hello, Jakob. I’m glad to see you’re alive and well. Not that you bothered to return any of my calls.”
Jakob didn’t even bother to look contrite, his blue eyes wild as he shifted impatiently from one foot to the other. His blonde hair was tied back and tucked into the collar of his navy peacoat, a rougher look than I was used to seeing him in. “There was no help for that, petal.” When he spoke I noticed a fine white line that went from the corner of his mouth to his chin. A scar? It had to have been a serious injury to leave any trace on an Ellri.
“No time to let me know if you even survived that fight with Lodinn? It’s been days. Did it ever occur to you that I needed to speak with you?”
“You were safe here in your Sanctuary, that is all that matters. Don’t let’s speak of this now, there is no time.”
“Oh, there’s all kinds of time,” I retorted, warming to the subject. “Do you even have any idea what else happened that night?”
“How do you mean?” His eyes narrowed as if he’d only just realized something else might’ve happened that wasn’t directly related to him.
“I don’t even know where to begin, there’s been so much since I last saw you.” I shook my head. Had it really been less than a week?
“This is not the time to delve into it all then. We must away.” His fingers wiggled toward me like he was calling a waiter and I took an instinctive step backwards.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Now is not the time for a show of stubborn independence, Anja. I want you to leave this night. Do not even stop to pack, I will obtain anything you require.”
“Unh uh, no way, Jose. I’m not stepping one foot out there with you.”
Instead of Jakob’s reply, Rob appeared at my side, his face twisted in thought. “Maybe you should think it over. Get out of town, take your sister with you and leave him to mop up his mess.”
“No, see that’s the thing, he’s not going to take care of his mess, are you, Jakob?” I turned back to the Ellri. “You’re running away, aren’t you? You want to go underground again and take me with you, is that it?”
“It’s what’s best at present.” Maggie rejoined us, as well as Hanna and Jenessa. The whole house crowded in the foyer, eager to figure out what was going on. “Ah, you have your sister safely by your side, even better. What objection could you possibly make now? Come with me, Anja, I will take you away from all of this pain.”
“Pain that’s only been brought on by your stupid vendetta?” I shook my head. “No thanks. I’m perfectly safe here from Lodinn, so why don’t you do your job and go take care of him.”
Jakob’s fists pounded against the door frame on either side of the barrier and I wondered if it would hold if he punched a hole through the wall. Rob didn’t look worried though, so I tried not to dwell on it. “Enough! I command you to come to me now,” Jakob demanded, his face thunderous.
My teeth rattled as a tremor went through me, but my voice was steady as I replied. “You can take your command and you can shovel it.” I didn’t expect anyone in the room to get the reference, but it made me feel better, stronger. Which was a good thing because Jakob didn’t take it too well.
“I tire of playing childish games with you. You have to come out sometime, and then I will simply compel you to do as I wish.”
Somehow I found the strength to call his bluff. “I doubt it or you wouldn’t be so antsy about loitering on my porch right now. Like it or not, you’re exposed out there and Lodinn could show up at any time. That’s why you’re so hot to get me away.”
From the menacing growl that escaped his lips I could see I was right. He was afraid. So afraid he wasn’t thinking straight. “Fine,” he bit out. “Then I shall compel someone you trust to lure you out to me when you least expect it. Then I can compel you as I wish.”
The threat cut too deep with Marcus’ late betrayal and death too fresh in my mind and I saw red. My eyes narrowed to thin slits, the voice that issued from my
throat cold and utterly unrecognizable as my own. “If you ever try to trick me like that I will never speak to you again. I will leave without you and you will never ever find me.” And I knew how to do it too, after my work on the underground vampire railroad.
“I could compel you not to leave,” he replied, unwilling to back down, and it was time to see who was the more stubborn once and for all.
“Do it then.” I stepped out onto the porch before Rob or anyone else could stop me. “Go ahead, make me a puppet, that’s all you want anyway. Do it. Make me love you, make me your total slave. Stop holding my family and friends over my head and do what you’ve wanted this whole time.” My chin came up, meeting his gaze with equal parts scorn and defiance even as those in the house clamored for me to get back inside.
Jakob’s anger was palpable as he struggled not to do that very thing and I thought I was lost, but an instant later he gave up all thoughts of compelling me. Instead, his hands circled around my throat like he wanted to throttle me and I felt Rob leave the sanctuary of the house.
“Leave her be,” he cried, reaching for Jakob’s wrists, but they were unmovable. Lee was right on his heels, jumping into the fray. Things were about to get pretty ugly if I didn’t do something fast.
“Or!” I shouted, trying to get their attention. It worked, since I forgot how loud vampires can be when they want to be. “Or…” I repeated, still loud, but not enough to disturb the dogs down the street again. “I will invite you in and we can all be safe.”
“What?” Jakob said, his grip faltering just as Rob echoed.
“What?”
“I will freely invite you into my home where Lodinn can’t reach you and we can figure out what to do together.”
“Anja…” Rob started to say, his hands falling away from Jakob’s wrists, but he remembered himself before he said anything further.
“Let it be done then and we’ll forget this insolence,” Jakob agreed, resting his hands on my shoulders as if he hadn’t been about to tear my head off not a minute before.
